Welcome to Now See This, THR chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg’s weekly viewer guide newsletter dedicated to cutting through the daunting clutter of the broadcast, cable and streaming TV landscape! Comments and suggestions welcome at daniel.fienberg@thr.com.

My Emmy Cool Romance

The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards are Monday night on NBC, so you only have three days to make sure you've seen enough of things like Dopesick, Barry, Succession and  Abbott Elementary  to be prepared for their possible triumphs. THR has all sorts of Emmy coverage, including me and Scott Feinberg breaking down what should win and what will win in various key categories, the show's producers discussing why this won't be a mean telecast and host Kenan Thompson on what he's likely to reference in his monologue. Plus, this week's TV's Top 5 podcast features Abbott Elementary co-showrunners Justin Halpern and Patrick Schumacker talking Emmy night and the current season of HBO Max's Harley Quinn.

'Handmaid' to Order

The fifth season of Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale — the show's penultimate season, per this week's big announcement — steps away slightly from its normal "Woman vs. Repressive Society" conflict for something closer to a mano a mano clash of the dystopian titans between Elisabeth Moss' June and Yvonne Strahovski's Serena. Those who like the show to aggressively chase headlines might be disappointed, but I appreciated that these new episodes, premiering next Wednesday if you need to catch up, felt almost like Cape Fear , to make an unexpected reference. It helps that Moss and Strahovski are both in absolute top form. Give a listen to last week's TV's Top 5 podcast as series creator Bruce Miller discusses Moss' general greatness and why he felt the Emmy-winning drama might be nearing its end. 

No Time to 'Kai'

After picking up a comedy series Emmy nomination in 2021, the fourth season of Cobra Kai was nominated for stunts and sound editing. Will the fifth season make it back into the main categories? We'll see! The new season premieres Friday and our Chris Gardner has a great story from the Netflix gala premiere. It's probably your best viewing option this weekend. Angie Han called Apple TV+'s Gutsy , featuring Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, "nothing if not wholesome." I thought Hulu's Wedding Season was, if nothing else, a good vehicle for star Rosa Salazar's intensely quirky charms. And as for Peacock's Last Light and Showtime's  American Gigolo? Skip 'em both!

Oh Nose!

Disney decided to celebrate its self-appointed "Disney+ Day" — I truly hate it when companies do this and we follow their lead — with the release of the Robert Zemeckis-directed Pinocchio remake and critics were all, "Oy. You shouldn't have." Our John DeFore called it "lifeless," but with Tom Hanks as its central star, Pinocchio is easily the weekend's biggest new streaming feature. Netflix's  End of the Road  boasts Queen Latifah and Ludacris in a road-trip thriller our Jordan Mintzer says starts off with promise but runs out of gas by the end. Maybe I'll just watch Thor: Love and Thunder, another of Disney's Disney+ Day "gifts," along with a BTS concert and glorified commercials for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor.

Remembering Queen Elizabeth II

There are plenty of monarchy-based reasons to feel uncomfortable "honoring" Queen Elizabeth II, who died this week at 96 after 70 years on Britain's throne. Obviously Netflix's The Crown, which does a spectacular job of breaking down the expectations and responsibilities of royalty, is a good place to start, and I recommend our TV's Top 5 interview with creator Peter Morgan from before the drama's third season. HBO Max has The Queen, featuring Helen Mirren's Oscar-winning turn as Queen Elizabeth. And if you prefer levity and you have Showtime, Queen Elizabeth plays a key role in The Naked Gun, which is available OnDemand.